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The new season starts tomorrow for an S&A favorite, Luther. The show stars Idris Elba as maverick Det.John Luther and in each episode of this suspenseful series, the murderer's identity is known from the start, focusing the drama on the psychological duel between predator and prey.

In a David vs. Goliath face-off, indie-owned Flagship Theaters recently won an appeal in its crusade against Cinemark’s Century Theatres. Does the age-old practice of circuit dealing — an unethical way for chain exhibitors to muscle studios — still persist? Anthony D’Alessandro digs further into this taboo topic: What is circuit dealing, exactly? It’s a predatory film booking practice whereby multiplex chains strong-arm studios for product in a specific market. If a studio decides to book with the competition in a given community, usually a Mom-and-Pop venue, then the exhibitor will threaten to bar that film (or future films) from playing the entire chain.

The remake of “Sparkle” is on the road to starting next month. Whitney Houston, already announced, will play Jordin Sparks‘s mother. In this version, Whitney’s character will not be a maid but a former R&B star who’s gone back to the church. I am told that Whitney will sing two gospel songs in the film.

LIFE'S WORK: THE FILMS OF ROMAN POLANSKI - Chapter 2: Spaces

Steven Santos on
September 27, 2011 11:26 AM

Roman Polanski has been making films for five decades now. His latest film Carnage is yet another of his works that takes place within a single, confining location, the better to allow Polanski to explore social, political and sexual issues. From his student shorts at the National Film School in Łódź to his early features Knife in the Water and Repulsion through his more recent films The Pianist and The Ghost Writer, Polanski has consistently explored how a physical space can affect a character's mental state.

I don't think we've ever really covered the Philadelphia Film Festival, so this might be our first mention; maybe because, this year, they'll be showing a number of films we've highlighted on Shadow And Act; which means, if you live in the Philly area, you'll get your chance to see them all, before much of the rest of the country does.

In my review of Djo Tunda Wa Munga's crime drama, Viva Riva!, I highlighted the film's audacious depictions of the kind of orchestrated sexuality and violence rarely seen in African cinema (specifically cinema of the DRC - the Democratic Republic Of The Congo, where such scenes are taboo); a kind of "fuck-you" to the status quo in a country that hadn't seen a feature film produced in over 2 decades.

Things are looking up for the long-delayed literary adaptation The Rum Diary, Johnny Depp's second run at writer Hunter M. Thompson. Whenever a movie sits on the shelf for long, it starts to small a little. But while FilmDistrict did not take the film to early fall film fests, they have booked it as the opening of Elvis Mitchell's Film Independent series at LACMA and will play the upcoming Hamptons Film Festival.

Midnight Madness at TIFF this year certainly got Hollywood buzzing. Among the titles earning chatter among suits and audiences alike were "Kill List," "The Day," "You're Next," of course "The Raid," which is getting a Hollywood do-over, and French thriller "Sleepless Night" which yes, is also being remade (courtesy of Warner Bros). Hopefully someone will actually distribute the latter film on this side as, judging by the French trailer for the film uncovered by Twitch, it looks like a pretty exciting little genre flick.